The beginning of 2008 God inspired a family ministry called Emerging Life Ministries. At first it was more of an idea than reality but He is gradually unfolding His purpose for this ministry. May He emerge more deeply in your life through this ministry. Visit the complete website at www.emerginglifeministries.net

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Conformity to the Rope

“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Hebrews 12: 1. "It was for freedom that Christ set us free." Gal. 5:1.

I learned a sad fact about circus elephants in my Bible
Study this morning.It seems that baby elephants
are chained during infancy when growing up at the hands of circus masters.It begins with them tied to a tree without
the strength to pull away.Though they
repeatedly try they eventually exhaust themselves and surrender to the fact
they can never walk in freedom.The
struggle to be free ends and conformity to the rope begins.The bigger they become the smaller rope is
required since their minds and spirits have already been broken.They adapt to living in the boundaries of the
rope.

Living in the boundaries
of the rope…haunting words for elephants and equally for Christians.Since infancy we were all born into the
captivity of sin.Our circus master,
Satan has trained us well as we find ourselves in adulthood living in some
binding from our past.Our rope is the thing that always surfaces and entices
us the most in our flesh.It is the thing that entangles…imprisons… binds.For me, it is serving to receive approval
which means no boundaries.I have
exhausted myself and frustrated others with this lopsided rope, all in the name
of goodness.My caregiving tendencies in
the past had such a hold on me from the time I was a child.We all possess ropes around our ankles that
discourage us from living in the freedom God intends.

Christ gives us an opportunity to untie that rope that binds
and be led out of our captivity.Even
the elephant needs guidance when the rope is unsecure.He still thinks it is around his ankle
because it always has been.It isn’t
until the one who frees him guides him out into the wild that he is
convinced he no longer is bound by the rope. "So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature...But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law." Gal. 5:16, 18.

Just because Christ has freed us doesn’t mean we live like
we are free.We can accept the freedom
Christ gave us at the cross but still live like we are tied up.‘Since
our tendency as humans is to err in a direction away from God, we must retrain
ourselves to walk in the ways of freedom.’ One in a Million – Journey to
Your Promised Land, Priscilla Shirer, p. 14.

Don’t just believe the rope has been removed…walk and live
as if you are free!